Chiefs’ Tyreek Hill returns, says he’s grown, expresses desire to become better person
Speaking for the first time since the NFL announced it would not suspend him following its four-month investigation, Tyreek Hill said Sunday he’s got to work on his “life skills” in a new journey of growth.
“As I was going through this long process, my mom told me people don’t need to change,” Hill said. “They need to grow. Think of a tree. A tree changes, and a tree grows. Every day, you need to grow, you need to add layers to yourself. Because if a tree grows, it doesn’t go back.
“So I want to grow. I don’t want to change. I’m trying to grow each and every day of my life.”
In a nearly nine-minute interview with reporters following his second practice with the team after an offseason away, Hill expressed his desire to begin a new path, one full of growth as a human and as a father.
“I’m appreciative of everybody in my life right now,” he said. “I can’t wait for my new journey, man. I’m excited. I’m working every day to be a better father, a better person, a better citizen, a better teammate. And a better son, too, to my parents.”
A day earlier, Hill ran down the green-carpeted hill toward the practice field, bouncing as he joined his teammates for practice for the first time in months. He stopped at the base of the hill to sign an autograph for a fan before continuing to the field.
As he ran, chants of “Ty-Reek” followed him, crescendoing into a cheer as he came into full view of Saturday’s record-setting crowd.
“The love feels good to come back out here,” Hill said. “I’m back, Cheetah’s back, man.”
He began Sunday’s interview by thanking the organization and fans for standing by him throughout the child abuse probe that began in March and involved Hill, his ex-fiancee Crystal Espinal and the care of their then-3-year-old son.
“I just want to thank them for the support,” he said. “I’m very appreciative of all of those guys for being in my life, especially my teammates. They stayed on me during the whole offseason.”
Chiefs coach Andy Reid didn’t communicate with Hill during his de facto offseason suspension, but the two did connect after the NFL’s recent decision.
“I spent quite a bit of time with him, actually, and he’s remorseful that he put all of us through what we went through and that he had to go through,” Reid said last week. “That’s a sensitive situation. He wants to get back and he wants to do what he needs to do to be a father and to be a player here. He’s very conscious of that.”
The NFL made its ruling in Hill’s case a little more than a week ago, deciding he did not violate the league’s personal conduct policy following an extensive interview with league investigators.
Team CEO and owner Clark Hunt also said the team did not consider its own punishment after learning of the league’s decision.
“With it happening in the offseason, we were able to take the time for the NFL to conduct its investigation and for them to make a decision on his status,” Hunt said Saturday. “That allowed us to sit back and wait for that investigation to be closed. We were able to get some information from the league in terms of what they learned, and that put us in a position where we could make the decision to have him back on the team.”
In its investigation, the NFL obtained and reviewed the entire 11-minute audio recording made by Espinal in a Dubai airport. And though they were unable to interview Espinal despite repeated attempts, NFL officials talked with numerous members of Hill’s and Espinal’s families.
“I’ve learned to just appreciate those around me,” Hill said. “I feel like I take that for granted sometimes. Being a professional athlete, I tend to not stay humble sometimes.
“I still love my kids, and I still love my family, but sometimes I feel like I take all of those things for granted.”
Hill hasn’t spoken publicly since before an edited version of the audio was aired on local television in KC. In the recording, Hill can be heard using threatening language toward Espinal.
He apologized for that Sunday.
“I’m just here to man up to what I did, like on the audio,” Hill said. “My bad language. I’m going to man up to that. I don’t want nobody talking to my little sister, my daughter that I have now, my mom, like that. It’s very disrespectful, and my mom got onto me. She was like thumping me in the ear like, come on, grow up, grow up out of that. So, never again.
“I’m growing as a human being, as a person. Never again.”
This story was originally published July 28, 2019 at 7:14 PM.